The interesting thing about Roman times is that the evaluation of a person changes greatly depending on the historian who evaluates it.
The prime example is Tiberius, the second emperor, who, while many historians in the past, including Tacitus, labeled Tiberius as a tyrant, like Tiberius, a 19th-century German historian who won the Nobel Prize. There are also people.
I personally think that history is an evaluation from the modern era and a mirror, but Claudius's evaluation may be difficult even from that perspective.
Let's take a look at such Roman emperor Claudius this time!
The leader of the prestigious Claudius family and the younger brother of the hero
Claudius's real name is Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Dorsus, a very long name, from the Claudius family who produced Appius Claudius, who built the Appian Way, and Marx Claudius Marquels, who was said to be the sword of Rome.
The Claudius family is a family of Roman super-prestigious aristocrats along with the Cornelius family who produced Scipio and the Fabia family who produced the Roman shield Fabius Maximus, and is closely related to the Julius family to which the first emperor Augustus belongs.
The second emperor, Tiberius, was originally from the Claudius family and became a member of the Julia family by being adopted by Augustus.> I also call it.
Claudius, the protagonist of this time, is one of the sons of Tiberius' brother Drusus, and the younger brother of Germanicus, a Roman hero who was successful in conquering Germania.
Tiberius was only seen as a middle reliever until Germanicus became emperor, even if Augustus adopted Germanicus when he chose Tiberius as his successor.
Germanicus unfortunately died prematurely and never became an emperor, but his son, Caligula, became the third emperor.
The results are as you can see. Caligula, who has become a rare dark man in the history of the world, far from Roman history, is finally assassinated by Captain Casius Kerea.
That was when Claudius appeared on the front stage of history.
Claudius, the 4th emperor of the Roman Empire
The guard captain Kerea, who assassinated Caligula, was the first to begin protecting Claudius. Claudius was said to have been quivering under his desk when Claudius arrived, but Claudius immediately announced the throne of Claudius' emperor.
Historians of all ages, east and west, have tried to interpret Kerea's actions, but they are still a mystery of Roman history.
In the Roman Senate, there was a move to abolish the imperial government and return to the republic after the assassination of Caligula, but Kerea has approved Claudius's support.
With this trend, Kerea is likely to dominate the government, but the first thing Claudius did was to judge the perpetrator of the Caligula assassination.
Kerea surprisingly accepts this without hesitation. As a result, Kelea died.
It is generally said that Kerea loved the imperial government and loved the guards, a unit under the direct control of the emperor.
Looking only at the results, he died after assassinating the emperor and enthroning another emperor. It can be said that he changed the emperor at the risk of his life.
In Chinese history, the new emperor would have been puppet, but in Roman history it wasn't.
Claudius was 50 at this time. It seems that he usually lived a life of studying history and compiling it into books. I'm also writing a blog like this, so maybe I'm a person close to Claudius.
Although Claudius was born into a super-prestigious family and has the blood of a hero, he has never held an important position.
Reasons for this include his congenital disability.
It seems that Claudius was born with bad legs and was not good at coloring. He seemed completely unpopular with Roman citizens because he was stuttering and drooling.
I think his brother Germanicus was clever, handsome and rear-filled, but his brother would have been painful, but Claudius may not. Such a person tends to be power-oriented, but Claudius does not see such a move at all. It may have been the happiest thing for him to study in his own world.
But history did not allow it.
He has become the Roman emperor.
Achievements as an emperor
Claudius hasn't done much in terms of historical achievements.
If I dare to say it, would it be as follows?
・ Suppression of Britannia
・ Solving the Jewish problem
・ Solving the Eastern problem
・ Appointment of Greek bureaucrats
Port maintenance
・ Historical bad wife
It was Julius Caesar who started the invasion of Britannia, what is now England, but Claudius can be said to have completed it.
Vespasian, who later became the Roman emperor, also emerged around this time, so it can be said that he was the right person in terms of recruiting human resources.
There was no major rebellion during the reign of Claudius against the Jewish problem that has always plagued Rome.
Even in the eastern power of Parthian. He inherits the lines of Augustus and Tiberius and puts them in a circle.
In the reign of Claudius, it can be said that there are almost no diplomatic problems.
In that sense, Claudius can never be called an incompetent emperor.
However, it is difficult to say that it is competent, but ...
He relied heavily on Greek freedmen during his reign.
One of the most famous is the trio of Narcissus, Pallas and Karystos, who were assigned to Claudius's unique position as Emperor's Secretary.
The Senate was very dissatisfied with the fact that all messengers to Claudius had to be passed through them.
Or even the orders in the name of Claudius could have been abused by them.
It is said that this is Rome's first bureaucracy, and some evaluate this part and others do not.
Claudius has been the traditional "Princeps" since the first Augustus, the first citizen of Rome, but as you can see from his history as an emperor, he had few friends in the Senate.
In addition, it seems that the deal with the Senate was not always good because he was escorted by the guards of his army.
Perhaps because of this, the qualifications for participation in the Senate were expanded during the time of Emperor Claudius.
Specifically, it grants Gauls qualifications as members of the Senate.
The Senate naturally opposed this, but Claudius rejected it with a historic speech.
The full text is long, so I would like to quote the content while omitting some parts.
"Even if I remember my personal ancestors, Klaus, who is said to be the oldest, was from the Sabines. In 505 BC, when he moved to Rome, the Romans were from other tribes and their families. Not only did they make themselves Roman citizens, but they also gave Klaus a seat in the Senate and a line of aristocrats.
I think that the method that our ancestors have shown can be a guideline for governance even in our time. It is a way that talented people, no matter where they come from or whose tribe is a former loser, should be given the opportunity to play an active role in the center.
It is our history to concentrate on Rome and fill the seats of the Senate when it comes to talented people, regardless of who was once defeated by Rome.
Both the Spartans and the Athenians could only teach short-term prosperity, even though they were so strong on the battlefield. The main reason for this is that they never tried to assimilate their enemies with their own citizens, and continued to keep them out as Gentiles.
However, our Roman founder Romulus chose the opposite of the Greeks in the subject line. Older enemies also added citizens after being defeated. On the contrary, we have a history of even leaders from other countries. Of the seven kings, the second Numa was from the Sabines, and the fifth to seventh kings were Etruscans.
Senate, everything we have long believed to be a tradition was new when it was done. As for the important positions of the nation, the long monopoly of the aristocrats was opened to the commoners living in Rome, then to the Latinans living outside Rome, and to the people living in the Italian peninsula, the wave of opening the door was spreading. be.
Ladies and gentlemen, opening the door to the Gauls, who are now being forced to express their attitude, will eventually become one of the Roman traditions. We have now set a number of precedents in discussing it, and this will eventually be one of the precedents.
It's a wonderful speech.
Although it is often interpreted historically that Claudius' expansion of Senate qualifications was to increase his influence over the Senate, this speech seems to have been the total settlement of the Roman history enthusiast.
What is the strength of Rome?
It is the strength that even the conquerors absorb and power.
As Claudius says, the Greek peoples do not have such strength. And it perished.
Rome has always been plagued by Gauls (Celts). It was once occupied to half of Rome, and there is a history that the Gauls sided with Hannibal during the Hannibal War.
Since the Second Punic War, Rome has stopped absorbing losers. Carthage and Cocorinto have been removed from the map, and the origin of Senators has been restricted.
Claudius probably loved the good old Rome. And he must have known the true strength of Rome.
Claudius has redeveloped the traditional Portus of Ostia.
The economy, which had been destroyed by Caligula, was restored during the time of Emperor Claudius.
Claudius is close to a great man in terms of politics.
However, he had the big drawback of being a bad wife ...
Two historic bad wives
There are two women who will definitely enter if there is a Roman history villain ranking.
One is Claudius' wife Messalina and the other is Claudius' wife Agrippina.
Claudius has two of the top villains in the world history level as his wives.
That has lowered Claudius's reputation to the limit.
Claudius has been married a total of four times.
Messalina is the third wife.
Messalina and Claudius are 35 years old different. Perhaps because of that, Messalina's affair was considerable.
Even so, she was probably an infomania, as she went to the brothel herself and took as many as 20 guests overnight.
After all, she was so addicted to spending money that she could confiscate her property or condemn her to death in the name of the emperor.
She ends up guilty of her death by taking an action diagonally below her imagination of having a wedding with her cheating senator Sirius.
And another, Agrippina, who is the mother of the famous Nero.
She wants to marry Claudius to make Nero the emperor, but in the first place she is the two uncles and her niece.
Agrippina is the daughter of her brother Germanicus, and the Senate strongly opposes the marriage, but the two force a marriage.
And as soon as Nero is adopted, Claudius dies.
It is said that he died from being addicted to mushroom dishes, but from ancient times to the present day, the theory of poisoning by Agrippina is deep-rooted.
Personal evaluation of Claudius
Claudius has a very good ability as a politician, and it can be said that he has fulfilled his responsibilities.
He can be said to be credited with rebuilding his finances, and the content and policies of his speech cannot be stingy.
However, as a family member, it is probably the worst in world history, rather than the lowest level.
I think he was the modern ASD.
Messalina has always accused people of dislike in her husband's name, but it is unknown how Claudius was looking at her at that time. She apparently she was completely indifferent.
There is also a record that Claudius was drinking wine without any reaction when he heard the news of Messalina's death.
Messalina would have been crazy originally, but her husband's indifference may have destroyed her spirit. When she does, she feels sorry for her ...
Or it could have been helped by Greek bureaucrats.
People with ASD are not very interested in areas they are not interested in. Claudius also has a section that he is not interested in other than what he likes.
He doesn't feel bothered by his bad wife, he's just indifferent.
And it is certain that his bad wives had a negative impact on politics.
Overall, I wonder if Claudius's evaluation is appropriate as a dark man.